How to Make the Best Buttercream

Yield:
3 cups

Prep Time:5minutes

Cook:10minutes

How to Make the Best Buttercream Icing that's perfectly creamy, sweet, and can be made ahead of time. Plus tons of flavor customizations listed and a step-by-step video! Download my free Buttercream guide here!

I seriously despise that stuff and would rather eat nothing (which is saying something for this sweet toothed girl). That’s why making buttercream from scratch is the only way to go. It may seem complicated but it’s actually ridiculously easy and this post is all you’ll need to not just learn how make the best buttercream, but how to make it ahead of time and how to customize it with over a dozen flavor options.

Check out the step-by-step video below so you can actually see what every step looks like, which if you’re a visual learner like myself you’ll find super helpful. The flavor ideas and full printable recipe are just below, plus some more links to other posts you’ll love.

Flavor Ideas:

You may need to adjust the powdered sugar ratio depending on your flavor preferences and adjust the cream ratio depending on your texture preferences.

Salted Caramel

How to make

the Best Buttercream

How to Make the Best Buttercream Icing that's perfectly creamy, sweet, and can be made ahead of time. Plus tons of flavor customizations listed and a step-by-step video! Download my free Buttercream guide here!

Ingredients

3cups(375 grams) powdered sugar, sifted

8ounces(227 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4teaspoonfine salt

2teaspoonspure vanilla extract

1 to 2tablespoonsheavy or whipping cream

Directions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase the speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the salt, vanilla, and cream and beat on medium for 1 minute, adding more cream if needed.

STORAGE:

Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let come to room temperature and re-whip in the stand mixer until light and fluffy again. Add a tablespoon or 2 of powdered sugar if it needs to thicken.

Course:
Dessert

Cuisine:
American

If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a picture and share it on Instagram with #handletheheat so we can all see!

Recipe byTessa

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About Tessa...

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Mindy – powdered sugar isn’t as dense as regular sugar so it may LOOK like more than it actually is. Some buttercream recipes actually call for 4 cups of powdered sugar so this is relatively conservative! Feel free to also adjust the sugar ratio to your preferences.

Lei- Can’t we all just get along and be nice? 2 tablespoons = 1 oz. 8 tablespoons = 1/2 cup or 1 cube = 4 oz.
On a happier note, love Handle the Heat, Tessa. Your slow cooker pork carnitas are cooling in the the slow cooker as I type. Also, do you like Italian Meringue Buttercream? Less sweet, but they both definitely have their advantages.

Arrgh, I was hoping it was the swiss meringue buttercream!!! 🙂 I have a problem with it, especially with the lemon one, because once it just split and I was sooooooo sad ;-(
Can I hope to see it here soon or late?

I’m so happy I found this post!! Sounds like just the right buttery sweetness and consistency I’ve been searching for…this doesn’t sound too sweet at all. Most of my recipes call for at least 4-5 cups of powdered sugar per 2 sticks of butter, which is more sweetness than my family can handle most days. And I’m really looking forward to trying some of the flavor additions you posted as well. Thanks, Tessa 🙂

I have a quick question…I’ve done a cake recipe, which calls for cool butter and the cake looks beautiful at first but them completely sinks. I’ve done it twice and the same thing happened both times. Can it be the cold butter? I’ve done a number of cakes and they always come out perfect. Thanks for your help!

It may be your that you leavener is expired (baking soda or baking powder), that the butter and sugar were over-beaten, or that the oven temperature was off (use an oven thermometer). It may also just be the recipe, some cakes are ultra moist and tend to sink a little bit (my favorite chocolate cake does this).

Thanks! I love your recipes and guides! I agree 3 cups is both conservative and laudable!

Almost all recipes assume posession of a standing mixer. I’ve made icings in the past without them. In your opinion, are standing mixers really necessary for frosting? Any tips to ensure one with a hand mixer doesn’t screw it up? I’m fairly conservative with my counter space, but don’t want to sacrafice good cupcakes. 🙂

I love you blog! I’ve made many of your recipes. I think it’s completely hilarious how people want to correct you on your butter cream recipe. Lol! I’m not sure if people know this, but, butter cream isn’t meant to be low calorie/low sugar. Ha! I make my mine with the same exact measurements. And it’s delicious! Keep doing what you’re doing.

this recipe is awesome! I used salted butter and added the additional salt on accident. It was ok but too salty. If you use salted butter don’t add any salt! I need to pay a little bit more attention! I remade it with salted butter and no additional salt and it was amazing!

He…he…I had to giggle at a lot of the ‘fix your recipe’ requests:) I used to have a cupcake business and this is very similar to the recipe I used for buttercream (except I added 2 tbsp. of heavy whip cream at the end and beat on high for 2 minutes- exceptional fluffy!). Your recipe looks spot on and perfect:) Best wishes!

not sure what kind of butter you are using Lei, but I have a 1 pound package of Land O Lakes butter. It has 4 sticks and it states: “1 stick equals 1/2 cup, 1 pound equals 2 cups or 4 sticks”. One pound has always been 16 ounces and if a 16 ounce package of butter has 4 sticks in it then 2 sticks equals 1 cup of butter, 4 sticks equals 2 cups. A cup is 8 ounces……or 2 sticks of butter. Each stick has 8 tablespoons…..not 8 ounces.

Hello Tessa, thank you for all your awesome recipes!!!
I made the valentine’s cake with this butter cream, but as soon as i added the strawberry preserve to the mixture it split (i think that’s the right work for it) the oil or fat from the preserve was flooding on the top, it tasted very good. i followed the recipe just like you listed. What did i do wrong?? I had to use regular store bought butter cream. Please help.

Hi there. Quick question. I’m having a cupcake decorating table at my daughters upcoming birthday. I was going to ice the cupcakes and they will just add the sprinkles etc. I will ice the cupcakes the morning of the party. Will this buttercream icing be soft enough that sprinkles will stick to it a few hours after it is piped? I have a great buttercream icing but I know that it will not go hard but certainly harden 2 or 3 hours after it is piped and sprinkles can not be applied after this. I look forward to hearing from you. Many thanks, Penny.

What is the weight of powdered sugar? (We don’t usually use cup measures in the UK) I assume powdered sugar is what we call icing sugar, I’ve always made buttercream with just icing sugar, butter and flavouring, does adding real cream mean that cakes have to be refridgerated once decorated?

@Melani
Yes! Buttermilk CAN be homemade! The recipe I’ve seen is 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar and milk. What you do is you add the lemon juice to the measuring cup, then fill to the correct amount. If this is wrong, please correct me!

This really is the best buttercream icing recipe. i’ve tried others and you can really taste the powdered sugar in them — not good. This is creamy and sweet (but not too sweet) and delicious! Also, I didn’t have any cream, so I put in a big dollop of whipped cream (haha). Worked beautifully! Can’t wait to try the variations!

Hi Tessa, I once made cupcake icing with normal white sugar (not powdered sugar) and it was horrible, all grainy and gritty. I was surprised to see you list brown sugar as the sugar for the cookie dough variation. Wouldn’t that also have a gritty texture or is it different? Thanks!

Hey Tessa! I am obsessed with your buttercream recipe. I usually make the chocolate and it is ridiculously good. Seriously amazing! However, I am curious about your cookie dough buttercream. Wouldn’t the brown sugar make the buttercream quite grainy? Thanks!

In the video I did not see you add the salt. Is that a step to omit or did you just not show it in the video. I’m not trying to be picky, I want to make sure I get the best buttercream due to the fact yours look so delicious.

I’m going to regret giving away my secrets. Using Crisco instead of butter will keep your frosting from melting in warm weather.Use 2 pounds of powdered sugar for each cup of shortening and beat the daylights out of it. It takes at least 5 minutes in the mixer before it’s properly incorporated.

Hi Tessa, thanks for the help, the measuring guide is really helpful! Just a couple more things: firstly what’s pumpkin pie spice? Don’t think we have anything like that in the UK, are there any spices I can mix to make my own version?
Also what about a banana buttercream? Some extracts either aren’t available in the UK or they taste nothing like what they’re supposed to… I was thinking about using banana milkshake (nesquick) to make some banana buttercream.. any idea how I’d do that? Want the buttercream to be smooth…
And also coconut… carnt seem to find coconut extract, what about coconut milk? How much do I add/ how do I change the recipe?

I’ve never had banana milkshake powder so I really can’t say! Also, I’m not sure coconut milk would provide a whole lot of coconut flavor because you’d be using such a small amount. If you like the texture of shredded coconut, I’d add some either in the buttercream or sprinkle with toasted coconut on top.

Hi
I have a doubt.i have done many cakes,it come out very well soft and fluffy,after icing it,I’ll store in fridge,but when we cut it its getting hard.
How to store a buttercream cake.
How many days can I store buttercream cake and fondant cake and how to store them.
Waiting for your reply
Regards
Saranya

I’ve tried making it and it’s still too sweet and rough. and when i pipe it it wont hold. I guess it depends on the powdered sugar, my cousin says powdered sugar differ in every country. So now i tried crisco shorthening 1 can and added little powdered sugar, just to make it enough sweet. Can this be a frosting or it is not good to have too much veg shortening? i never saw recipe like this in the internet but the taste is familiar to other cakes i have tasted before.

I have used this recipe which is great,But I have used other creamers to do other flavors which are very tasty,Plus have used other flavored extract and colors. This is a truly great tasting butter cream recipe

This post is much appreciated as I have yet to find “the perfect buttercream ” (I haven’t tried this yet). My question is, in the directions, it says powdered sugar, sifted, but in your video you say sifted powdered sugar. How it’s said/written makes a difference, as one means sift first and then measure, and the other means measure first and then sift. Which do I do for this recipe? Thanks much.

I am looking for a frosting that hardens to use on “cake pops”. They need a hard shell like dipping them in chocolate candy melts provides, but I would prefer to have some flavor options. Thank you. I love this blog.

I am looking for a frosting that hardens to use on “cake pops”. They need a hard shell like dipping them in chocolate candy melts provides, but I would prefer to have some flavor options. Thank you. I love this blog.

Hello I wanted to know if this recipe melts. I make an awesome buttercream but i add shortening and it doesnt taste greasy it has a wonderful taste (per my customers) in the past i have tried making buttercream with out shortening but it eventually melts

I loved watching you Demonstrate how to simply make your frosting. I look forward to more Info and amazing recipes. I love to bake but get frustrated when things don’t turn out the way you think they should etc… I feel as though all that’s about to change with watching your video.

I was up in the wee hours of the morning very sick with cough and cold. Now I’m glad I was. I found you, your video, and many lovely ideas of how to make my baking much more rewarding.

Tessa God Bless my question is what could I use instead of heavy whipping cream cause I hate to throw the rest away if I only use a few tablespoon of I how good will this hold up in very hot weather after making cupcakes can they be left on the kitchen counter ?

My only question is regarding refrigeration after icing your cake/cupcakes because of the cream. If I’m making a cake for a party chances are it’s not going to be able to fit in the fridge until it’s served. I’ve always been concerned about this. And my buttercream has always turned out sickeningly sweet based on general BC recipes I’ve tried. I’ll try this one with less sugar and hope for the best.

Hi Tessa love love you buttercream, plus all the ideas you can do with is I am love to bake even though I have no training I just take the recipes and follow the instructions correctly. I have a question in your comment on the buttercream recipe you stated that this recipes can be double for an 8 and 9 in cake when it comes to doubling recipes I am NOT good at it. could you please help how to double this for a cake without me making to separate buttercream. Oh also for a 10 in cake. Thanks and keep it up.

Hi Tessa love love you buttercream, plus all the ideas you can do with is I am love to bake even though I have no training I just take the recipes and follow the instructions correctly. I have a question in your comment on the buttercream recipe you stated that this recipes can be double for an 8 and 9 in cake when it comes to doubling recipes I am NOT good at it. could you please help how to double this for a cake without me making to separate buttercream. Oh also for a 10 in cake. Thanks and keep it up.

Hi Tessa, I just tried your frosting recipe and it was great! Ive tried another one that required to cook sugar,flour,cornstarch, over stovetop and it was also very good. I love both recipes and will use these ones all the time. Will have to try the different flavors as well. For your recipe I used vanilla bean paste and it turned out just as good as extract. I love that you can see the little specks of bean in it. You can buy this online or I bought it at a bulk store in Canada. I have yet to try the REAL vanilla bean. Next time. Thanks for the recipe and video.

I have never made buttercream before and would like to use it to frost a large number of cupcakes. But since it will be a busy day tomorrow, can I frost them today and will they be ok out of the fridge until tomorrow afternoon?

Hi Tessa, I was looking for a less sweet buttercream for my gluten free chocolate cupcakes and was drawn to this recipe because of the added whipping cream. It is just delicious! I’d look to try to salted caramel but wasn’t clear on directions. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.

I have made buttercream and trust me you need all the sugar and butter to make it perfect, absolutely love it and have now made the plain buttercream twice and everyone loved it. Now I’m guna start with the flavoured buttercream looking forward to trying the peanut butter one especially 🙂 thank you for your tips 🙂 xx

Hmmm…this was interesting. I decided to move from canned frosting to fresh. I used to make frosting before canned, but I couldn’t remember the recipe. I remembered my mother making frosting from scratch. Now I see that the recipe can be made with variations, crisco, butter, etc.

After watching a kids cupcake bake-off my daughter (age 10 ) got inspired to “create” her own cupcakes from scratch. I’m not a baker and never made anything from scratch. She is so daring and we checked out a basic vanilla cake receipt last night. She made pineapple vanilla cupcakes and wants to now add coconut frosting (from scratch of course) I’m embarrassed to say I really had no idea how one makes frosting from scratch. I’ve only ever made a glaze for a cookie from powdered sugar, food coloring and water. I saw your blog and it looks pretty easy. Like the video, a good tool for teaching an inpatient young cook who doesn’t always like to read all the directions. excited to try it out. Looks like a nice receipt we can reuse and tailor

How much Wilton concentrated gel icing colors do I need to look like baby blue color? You put 1/4 teaspoon to yours. People seems to use tooth picks to test out the colors. I am afraid to put too much. Thanks!

Question, I found this recipe randomly while trying to find the perfect buttercream frosting for a cake I’m making and I was just wondering, do you think this recipe would go well under fondant? Have you tried it under fondant?

I have been looking for, and trying, different buttercream recipes. This is now my go-to recipe! The texture is great and holds it shape. I am Phoenix, where it’s hot, I will have to see how this holds up for a park party I have planned for my son’s birthday next month. I have tried the chocolate and peanut butter variations and the flavors are excellent. I did omit the cream from the peanut butter recipe, I didn’t want it too thin. So far, so good! Thank you for sharing this recipe along with the other flavor options.

For a long time I’ve been trying to find the best buttercream – something not to sweet and easy to pipe until I found this and it’s great! You can really taste the difference between the american wilton buttercream and this all butter recipe. It’s by far the best recipe I’ve come across 🙂 Oh and the flavour options are incredible.

Tessa how long at room temperature can a cake with buttercream be left. I have made buttercream in the past using water instead of cream. I’m making a wedding cake for my niece. If I use cream will the icing be ok for 5-6 hours at room temp – or longer. Thanks I like your website!

Making this frosting in Cotton Candy flavor to top Confetti Cupcakes for 6-year-old’s birthday party. Two questions: Will it melt easily? Florida heat & humidity melts most frosting so subbing butter-flavor Crisco for some of the real butter makes frosting hold up longer.
How to make Cotton Candy flavoring? Can’t find Cotton Candy Extract, no time to order bulk cotton candy floss sugar from Amazon or Webstaurant. Help!!
TYVM for your time & AWESOME recipes!!!

Hi Jean! Although I really prefer the flavor and texture of butter, if you’re worried about melting then of course Crisco can be a good way to offset that. I’d also refrigerate the cupcakes until the party so they don’t melt as quickly. I have no clue how to make cotton candy flavor unfortunately! Never tasted or tried that before.

I am planning on using buttercream as a filling for my daughter’s birthday cake however I want to use fondant to decorate the the iutside which can not be refrigerated. Will filling the cake with the buttercream the day before or two and not refrigerate it be ok as the receipe calls for cream?

Just made this! There was a certain taste I wanted and after researching several recipes I went with this one and it’s AWESOME! Thanks so much for sharing this! I looooove cooking but baking is new territory for me. This went great with the scratch cupcakes I made tonight for my daughters birthday!

Hi Tessa!! I was wondering if this buttercream consistency is only for cupcakes or will it stay consistent enough to fill and frost a fondant covered cake? I just love all the flavors suggestions btw!!!

Hey there and thank you for this WONDERFUL recipe!!! It is the best I have ever made… I ALWAYS double the recipe song can freeze the rest so I’ll always have it… The only change I made the second time I made it was instead of 2 sticks of butter I used 1 stick of butter and 1 stick of crisco shortening… I think it pipes much easier and holds the shape better… My kids are always asking me to just make the icing because they love it so much… I tend to lick the bowl myself… And it also stays better in the heat… Move over processed immatation frosting!!!!

I live in Arizona which is hot almost always and I bake cakes as a hobbies however I made a cake using buttercream frosting and it melted. It went some completely smooth and creamy to a soft melting mess. How can I help this without using shortening? Your frosting look beautiful but can it with stand high temperatures of heat?

I live in AZ too! Buttercream will basically melt at the melting point of butter, which is around 90°F. So any cakes exposed to that heat for longer than a few minutes will start to melt. One way to combat that is to fully refrigerate the cake before you plan to serve it. Then, it will warm up with the high outside temps to be ready for serving and will take longer to melt. Does that make sense?

Wow! This recipe was great! I had made a buttercream frosting for some cupcakes i baked the other day and the recipe that came with the cupcakes was simply way to thin… It dripped all over my cupcakes and made it very messy to eat. Later I had found this recipe, made it, and loved it! It was the perfect consistency and when I it onto my cupcakes, it held it’s shape! This recipe is simply delicious and I will definitely make it again. Five Stars all the way!

I made this tonight and it was incredible. I’ve been trying different vanilla buttercream recipes for a while now trying to find this exact combination. The taste and texture were spot on and no fancy ingredients! My search is over. Thank you for posting this.
(Also, half of this recipe was the perfect amount of frosting to frost the top of a 9×13.)

I’ve made your basic buttercream and it came out absolutely perfect. Just the right amount of sweet for my strawberry filled cupcakes. I can’t wait to try the other flavor combinations. Just one question…..what suggestions would you have for a peach flavored buttercream? Thank you for your great recipes, ideas and tips. Love em!!

Hi Tessa, your butter cream recipe sounds awesome ! I can’t wait to try it .I have two questions 1) In the UK here we have whipping cream and pouring cream which one do I use? 2) can I use this buttercream to cream coat a cake that I intend to cover with fondant which would need to stay out in room temperature until it’s ready to eat in two days ? Worried the cream in the butter cream would go off ! Help !

Hi! I’m not sure what pouring cream is, but whipping cream should work. This buttercream works under fondant and should last for that amount of time as long as it’s a cool room temp. The sugar in the recipe actually helps to act a preservative and prevents bacteria from growing.

Hi Tessa,
First of all, awesome video !
I’ve got a question, can I use this recipe for piping flowers like roses and ranunculus ? I live in Malaysia and find that italian or swiss buttercream melts real quick even with 30% shortening added into the recipe.
Thank you.

This looks delicious and I am going to give it a try! I have a quick question about the chocolate chip cookie dough flavoring. It states to use 3/4 brown sugar in place of all powdered sugar. Does this mean I use 3/4 cup powdered sugar with 2 1/4 cups brown sugar? I just want to make sure I have the measurements correct and that you didn’t mean to use only 3/4 cup of brown sugar…thanks!

No, you replace ALL of the powdered sugar called for with only 3/4 cup brown sugar. I’m not sure how else to state that. Brown sugar weighs much much more than powdered sugar, so by volume it may seem like a lot less but that’s the correct amount. Make sense?

I typically just keep the cake in the fridge until the party / picnic / event or whatever begins. That way the it starts cold and will warm to room temperature when it’s ready to be served. Anything that may keep it from melting will likely be an artificial preservative that will negatively impact the flavor and/or texture.

Wow, this is awesome frosting!! I just made THREE batches! One was raspberry buttercream and the other two were Baileys Irish Cream Raspberry buttercream. So delish!! And to answer the person who was worried about the sweetness – I made the regular buttercream with the sugar and butter and it was sweet, but by adding the baileys to it – believe it or not it was less sweet, and with just the raspberry all fruit jam it was also less sweet. So good and easy to use!! Thanks for these ideas!

What the best brand of confectioners sugar and butter? Because no matter what kind I use, I still think it tastes bad! It could be the recipes I’ve been using but I was just wondering if maybe the brands I’m using were the issue!

Hi!!! Just came to your page since your recipe for buttercream seems to be the easiest one in the Internet – I am a total newbie, it’s gonna be my first time making it!
I saw in some pages that it can be added some food colorant in order to obtain colourful buttercream, but I don’t know how it would affect the consistency, neither I know how much colorant I should add to it or if it would require any modification of the recipe.
I would be extremely thankful if you could help me with this.
Best wishes from Spain!!!

Hi Lucia! The food coloring will completely depend on the type you use: liquid, gel, or paste. The more liquid the food coloring is, the less cream you should add to your buttercream. I like high quality gel food colorings because a little goes a long way, and they won’t interfere too much with the texture of the frosting. Start with a few drops then add more until you get your desired color. If you end up adding so much coloring that it thins the frosting, simply add a few more tablespoons of powdered sugar until it’s the right consistency 🙂

Hi, Tessa, I love your video on making buttercream. According to your instructions, to frost an 8″ cake the recipe needs to be doubled. However, this is my question. When it comes to making “other” flavors, do I also double the amounts listed on your recipe? For example, your recipe to make peanut butter buttercream said to add (1) C of peanut butter and reduce the powdered sugar to 2 1/2 C – if I make a batch for an 8″ cake, do I increase the peanut butter to (2) cups? That sounds like a lot of peanut butter so I just want to make sure. Many thanks! Looking forward to your response.

Yep, that would be right! You might be able to get away with using less frosting, but in my experience the more frosting you have the more beautiful the cake will turn out 🙂 And feel free to play around with the amount of peanut butter. I prefer my frostings to be more intensely flavored, but you might prefer less.

This looks amazing!! I’m planning to use this recipe on a lemon rosette cake and flavor the buttercream with key lime, what I want to know is, how much buttercream will I need to frost and pipe rosettes for a 3.5- 4 inch high cake?

Hi Christina, I’m not entirely sure! When I’m working on a decorative cake like that I usually just double the recipe. This gives me room to experiment and have fun without worrying about being stingy. You can always freeze the rest 🙂

I used this buttercream tonight for my son’s christening cake, and it is wonderful. I actually made two batches. The first one frosted the 13″ x 9″ cake, and the second was tinted two shades of blue for decoration. I had extra blue buttercream (both shades), and so far, I have it stored in the refrigerator. It is so easy to make and delicious. It is quite sweet, so I added an extra 1/8 teaspoon of salt to offset the sweetness. This is definitely going to be my go-to frosting recipe when it comes to decorating. I love the versatility, too, with the different flavor variations. I’m looking forward to experimenting with it in the future.

Hi Tessa, 2 questions, if making a cake ahead to take somewhere, how long would the Swiss meringue buttercream be ok on the cake in fridge? (Not covered) I know I can’t freeze once on cake.Also I tried flavouring some with passion fruit pulp, it just seemed runny. Any ideas on this?

I would say 1 day. Then the quality may start to lessen. As for flavorings, if it seems runny you can always add more sugar. However, then you may not enjoy the level of sweetness. You may have better luck using jam, preserves, or jelly.

Can’t wait to try these different variations out. I have recently began baking and decorating cakes and cupcakes and have found that after 38 years on this earth, I have a great deal of passion and talent for it that I never knew existed! This will help me out tremendously when searching for new things to try! Thank you so much for sharing! God bless!!

Quick question!… Can the regular buttercream be made ahead and then stored in the fridge and then the variations be added when ready to use? I know you said it can be stored for up to a week in the fridge but was curious if I could add the variations after storage and remix!

Just a couple of comments…
One, powdered sugar is ground very fine and is mixed with cornstarch, so is not as sweet as regular sugar, and if you sift it, getting rid of the lumps, it will be more aerated. I’ve never really seen a recipe that wasn’t 3 cups or more!
Two: If you frost cupcakes in the morning and cover them, they will not crust over, so you can sprinkle or decorate any way you want. I make small piping bags in different colors so the kids can squeeze out designs on top, then different sprinkles in party theme colors, mini chips, and mini m&m’s go on top. Kids love to squeeze frosting!
Three: For cream cheese icing, substitute 8 oz. cream cheese and one stick of butter (room temperature on both) and add 3-1/2 cups confectioners sugar and 1-2 tsps. vanilla. Leave out the cream.

First time making this… I’m SO used to the super sweet Wilton recipe, so it’s a big change for me. I would make theirs, then add an extra 1/2 stick of butter to try and make it creamy. This is sooo creamy, which with Crisco, I have a hard time achieving. I made some for work and they are my test group, we will see what they have to say. I did add a tad more sugar to mine. The fiancée approves. Thumbs up…. can’t wait to experiement with flavors!

Tessa – I’m so glad I found this recipe. Can’t wait to try out the different variations!
I was wondering: I made a mocha layer cake with a chocolate ganache filling. I want to make a pink buttercream and would love for it to have a bit of flavor, but I’m not sure how strawberry or raspberry will pair with the other flavors of the cake? Should I just leave the buttercream plain?
Thanks:)

Thank you very much Chef, for taking the time to share your professional knowledge with me. I find your website extremely helpful. I am making my own wedding cake for my reception and I have struggled with finding the perfect recipe. I look forward to trying yours. I hope you will continue to bestow your knowledge upon us. Again, Thank you, Chef.

I’ve been searching for sometime as to how to make a fantastic, not too sweet buttercream, which I can flavour easily – and I found it finally on your site! Thank you!! Me and my 5 year old daughter made the raspberry flavour buttercream and it was soooooo good.. her and her father were fighting over the cup cakes with it on!

Tessa-I love this recipe, made it the other day and received so many compliments on how good it tasted. I just have one question-it was too soft to make roses, they just fell..Should I leave out the heavy cream next time to make it stiffer?

Hi Tessa! I just want to say that I LOVE all your recipes, I have tried many of them.. and your buttercream recipe is my go-to for decorating, everyone always compliments me on how good it is. I have a question though, how would I make the buttercream into a thicker consistency? I want to try some Russian piping flower tips and from what I have read it says these are best used with a thick consistency buttercream

Hey,
if I would make my cupcakes a day before I would hand them out, and I did this as well with te Buttercream, could I decorate them in the morning (7am) to hand them out around 10 am?
Thank you !
Axelle

Hello Tessa! I want to thank you for this recipe. I have tried many frosting ones before and never liked the taste…it being too sweet. Also, the consistency wasn’t thick enough for all the decorations I wanted to do. Your Buttercream Recipe is incredible! I use it everyone I need frosting now. I had bought Russian Decorating Tips and it is the ONLY frosting that will work with them. It has made me love decorating even more! Thank you so much, Tessa!

This looks a great idea. I’ve got a recipe at home that forever melts on me, no matter how much sugar I put in. I also prefer to use a vegetable fat substitute for butter as I find that a bit sickly. Has anyone tried this recipe not using butter??? How did it come out?
Thanks

Hi! I just wanted to say THANKS TESSA! I may be only 12, but I just made this superb buttercream on a vanilla cake and it was awesome!!!! I made the lemon flavoured buttercream frosting , and I just got to say WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!l!!! My dad wouldn’t stop licking it! I was sure I would have to triple the batch! I’m going to bring it to my great uncle’s 4th of July celebration! I’ m so excited! I know all the people will love it ! Lemon + Old black people + my black family = SUCCESS! 😉 4th of July 2017!!!! Thanks again, bye!

Hello, Tessa. I have a big problem with buttercream recipes and have some questions. So, I’ve been doing the buttercream for more than a year, and it’s always impossible to eat. So much powdered sugar was so sweet that anybody could eat it and had to through the buttercream away. It also tastes like a real butter (which I don’t really like and eat) Other recipes, for instance, Cupcake Jemma add much more powdered sugar. However, there are lots of positive feedbacks in the internet and I think, that all these issues exist only in my kitchen(((( Look, 375 gr of powdered sugar is a bit more than 250 ml cup, isn’t it? There’s no vanilla extract in my country but I’ve bought powdered sugar mixed with natural vanilla. Maybe powdered sugar is less sweet in the USA than in my country. Please, help me solve my problem ’cause I wanna decorate cupcakes with roses.
P.S. Thanks in advance 🙂

I still cannot believe in the 21st century that we are arguing about butter measurements in recipes. 1/4 pound or one stick = 4 oz = 1/2 cup = 4 fluid oz. – You are correct, fluid ounces does not ALWAYS equate with weight ounces…. however, with butter, IT DOES! 16 oz = one pound and it is also 2 cups of butter = 16 fl.oz.
Where is the Crisco in your recipe? My Wilton recipe is half Crisco and half butter.

Really good recipe! Can’t wait to try it. I was interested on doing the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough but it requires 1 1/4 cup of flour… Am I supposed to serve uncooked flour? I don’t get it. Any tips about that?

Made your buttercream frosting recipe to frost my daughters homemade “funfetti” birthday cake!
It was delicious! I replaced the vanilla with almond extract and everyone loved it! They all wanted seconds!
I love to bake and make my family feel special, thank you Tessa for making it so easy to do!!

Your videos are great! Thank you sooooo much for making them. I made regular and chocolate buttercream and used your swirl technique from another of your videos. They turned out amazing! The butter cream was the best I’ve used and the Chocolate was beyond great. Other chocolate recipes use melted chocolate chips which I didn’t like…..then I found yours and used ghiradelli cocoa….amazing! Thanks again!

This might be a silly question: what is a good way to do a test run with gel coloring? I am trying to match my buttercream (which this recipe is so delicious) to party invite but I don’t want to waste a bunch of buttercream. Thanks!

Thank you so much! I have made buttercream many times and, while for the most part I was able to achieve good results with a bit of ingredient adjusting, your simple ratio for the base is spot on. This morning I made peanut butter, raspberry, and fresh strawberry buttercreams for mini cupcakes that I need for a shower later today. Just a reminder (I hope you don’t mind) that all that all ingredients need to be near room temperature or you may end up with “broken” buttercream that is hard to fix.

Just a quick question. I tried to scroll to see if it had been asked already, but didn’t see anything, so please forgive me if it has been asked and/or answered already.How much does this yield per recipe? Also, how stiff is this? Medium, stiff like royal or thin?

I made the cookie dough version of the frosting and it got rave reviews! My first frosting (different recipe) was gritty and too sweet. I made this frosting the morning of my daughter’s birthday party and it saved the whole dessert! This is bookmarked for life! Thanks so much!!!

Bless your heart people ask the same questions that have already been answered always have comments that should be kept to theirselves . Please everyone enjoy this blog and do not try to change what she has wrote it is ignorant. This is a great recipe it is how true buttercream is made.

So far I’ve made the peanut butter buttercream and the mint. All I can say is WOW! So creamy, fluffy and not too sweet at all. I could have eaten a bowl of the peanut butter buttercream by itself it was that good. I plan on making a white cake with the strawberry buttercream topped with chocolate covered strawberries this weekend for my Grandson’s birthday. Love your recipes!

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